Vapor grown carbon fibers (VGCFs) have a high specific strength, a specific modulus, and a crystalline orientation. In addition, VGCFs have good electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity. Thus, VGCFs have attracted much attention in recent years.
VGCFs is conventionally prepared by catalytic cracking a hydrocarbon compound and vapor depositing on transition metal, such as iron, cobalt, nickel, or any combination alloy thereof. In detail, a substrate is located into a reaction tube, wherein the substrate is coated a metal granule layer acted catalyst, and then a mixing gas including a hydrocarbon and a hydrogen is supplied into the reaction tube, finally VGCFs are grown on the substrate. However, the VGCFs are only one-dimensional structures, but not two-dimensional structures, restricting the application of the VGCFs. A number of VGCFs can be stuck together by using adhesive to form a carbon fiber film. But the carbon fiber film has bad electrical and thermal conductivity because the presence of the adhesive.
What is needed, therefore, is to provide a carbon fiber film that can overcome the above-described shortcomings.